Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, is confirming he will seek re-election, quelling his party’s fears that if he retired a Republican could win his seat. Manchin warned Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other fellow Democrats about his frustrations with Washington politics Tuesday before conceding he plans to run again, according to the New York Times.

In an interview with the Times, Manchin admitted he told them, “this place sucks.” He clarified that remark on Wednesday, telling CNN, “I said the place sucks when it doesn’t work. I get a little frustrated at times. I let it fly that day.”

Manchin is considered the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, and most recently voted against the government shutdown. Nevertheless, he’s been a central figure on immigration reform, leveraging his middle-of-the-road ideology to propose a bipartisan solution that includes shielding Dreamers from deportation.

Joe Manchin officially announces he’s running for re-election: “Washington doesn’t have to suck, and we don’t have to accept gridlock” #wvsen

It would be nice to have him primaried out and still win the seat in November.

canoebum

He did try to get some bi-partisan gun regulation through the Senate. That’s more than you’ll get from any prospective GOP replacement. He’s a conservative Democrat, but he doesn’t caucus with the Republicans, so it could be worse.

RyanInIllinois

You think it would be nice to have a liberal Democrat primary him out and then lose in the general election? That’s… not how you win a Democratic senate majority. Remember, West Virginia went for Trump over Clinton by 42 POINTS.

Boreal

Washington doesn’t have to suck but it does with turncoat blue dogs like Joe Manchin, fellating every republican he meets.

Can’t disagree, but if the choice is between an ultra-conservative Blue Dog Dem or a treasonous, corrupt GOPer, I’ll take the Dem.

For now.

Gustav2

Imagine the R alternative to Manchin we would get from WV.

Steven Lewis

exactly. lets not in-fight on the only possible win we would have here. While we can argue over someone not being liberal enough coming from Oregon we can just be thankful a tea partier is not coming out of WV or Alabama.

SkokieGuy [Snark McSnarkyface]

He’s not progressive enough, I’m going to vote for Jill Stein.

Paula

😳😳😳😳🤭🤭🤭

jerry

Jenkins (WV-03) is running, so he’s out of Congress. Don Blankenship, the convicted coal mine owner, is running…even though he claims NV as his resident state as part of his probation. The AG Morrisey, from NJ, is running…though he doesn’t have to give up his job if he loses (term through 2020). But yes, they’re all far-right idiots.

RKitty01

you have no idea how bad the republicans running against Manchin are; one is our carpetbagging attorney general whose wife’s lobbying firm represented Cardinal Health while the state was suing them; his main claim to fame was suing the Obama administration and the EPA

the second republican running is one of our congress critters; he was a republican then a Democrat and is now again a republican; his big thing is bringing back coal while ignoring the fact that his district has some of the highest rates of drug overdoses in the country-hillbilly heroin

the third is in a class all by himself-Don Blankenship; he was convicted of conspiracy to violate mine safety and health standards in regards to the Upper Big Branch disaster in which 29 miners died because of safety issues “allegedly” ordered by him as to cut costs; he has his special place in Hell already reserved

but the kicker with him is that during his trial he claimed Las Vegas as his home and not WV; people are wondering how in the hell he can run

JCF

It sure AF wouldn’t be a Susan Collins (as much of a tool as she can be)..

The_Wretched

That argument always feels wrong to me. I’ve not seen full support of a strong liberal candidate for so long that I doubt the common wisdom. If we saw $$ + progressive in more races and they lost due to lack of popular support, it’d be a different case.

It feels wrong, but to fix it we’d need a completely rewritten Constitution which would allow for 3 or more viable candidates.

But we don’t even have a majority system, just plurality vote. Which just about inevitably becomes a 2-party majority system.

Or to put this another way, a liberal Dem at the present time cannot win in WV or Alabama, or in any other place where the political center is far to the right of what we’d prefer. So we have to take what we can get.

Jim Maloney

It’s about getting majority control of the Senate for judges, investigations, blocking odious legislation, etc. He helps give that to Dems. Each party has a person or two that some wish weren’t there, but they still help give that party control of those items just listed above when they’re in the majority.

ted-

There are always more progressive Democrats running. But, yes, I agree…I’ll die before I vote for a GOP.

Treant

West Virginia. You have two choices: Manchin or a Tea Party Republican.

Boreal

For the most part there isn’t much of a difference on many votes.

Treant

“For the most part,” “much.” Best we can do. WV is a shithole state.

Boreal

Not on my bucket list to visit anytime soon.

Megrim Twist

I grew up there and my family still lives there. Your comment is partially true, but that’s a WIDE BRUSH you are painting with.

Steven Lewis

but there definitely is A difference…. and if you look at any analysis on voting with Trump’s agenda – yes, Manchin is the highest among Democrats, but he is well below any Republican. Coming from WV he is the absolute best we could hope for

i don’t mean to stir up trouble, but recently someone reminded me how well He Who Must Not Be Named did in coal country here in OH, PA and WV. i don’t have the time to go back and get the county by county breakdown, but my point is, don’t be so sure. this is a self-fulfilling prophecy that a lot of the national dems want people to ignore. which is to say, they want you to believe that in all DINO states with nominally “democratic” senators no one more liberal could ever have a chance, even as they refuse to even try to support someone a tad less republican.

jerry

No one is going to beat Manchin in the Democratic primary…too much money and name recognition. And a lot of the non-crazy Republicans and independents also like Manchin. No, he’s not my favorite by a long shot, but I don’t see anyone, including a Republican, beating him.

jerry

BTW, a poll was done last week that shows Trump with only a 51 to 48 favorable rating now in WV…still above water, but down by around 25 points from a year ago. I guess the lie about bringing coal jobs back finally set in.

RyanInIllinois

Except for, you know, having majority control of the Senate. Along with that comes a Democratic Majority Leader, control of the Senate agenda, and veto power over the president’s judicial and cabinet appointments. But, yeah, not much difference I guess.

Boreal

Get back to me when we have control of the senate, otherwise save your sarcasm for someone else.

RyanInIllinois

It’s not sarcasm. It’s a list of benefits of having majority control of the US Senate, which will require having some Democrats like Joe Manchin.

RyanInIllinois

Also, I’ll be here when we win control of the Senate, celebrating with JMGers (probably on my phone while I drink myself blind in a bar).

Berdawn Hutchinson

Actually, we have Paula Jean Swearengin who is running against Manchin in the primary.

Treant

You have two choices, Manchin or a Tea Party Republican.

RKitty01

like she’s actually a threat to beat Manchin; wonder if the republicans are paying her to run like they do with Green Party candidates

SoCalGal20

As long as we don’t have too many DINOs but if he helps us get a Senate majority I can put up with him. We need him right now to even have a chance at getting a senate majority or at least keeping it close enough that Dems have some chance at leverage.

Elagabalus

When it comes to getting a Democratic majority in the Senate, Manchin would contribute nothing since he always, always votes with the Republicans.

i’m not actually familiar with his actual voting record. are you? either of you? i mean, give me a breakdown here. what percentage of the time did he caucus/vote with the rethugs, or choose not to vote on key bills etc?

He’s old school conservative on most issues with a libertarian streak. I’m not entirely sure why he’s a (D) and staunchly so. It seems to be for historical reasons and certain amount of he stays stuck on some issues.

I wasn’t commenting on the substance of Elagablus’s point as It looks like a troll to me.

Ninja0980

But he would help Democrats with regaining the majority.

SoCalGal20

He does not. His track record is far from perfect FiveThirtyEight put together this list of Manchin votes and how often he votes with Trump. Aside from that, it’s not just about the votes. If he managed to help Dems get a majority in the Senate that’s huge. Dems will chair committees.

Manchin is one of worst Democrats in office but he is the best option we currently have for a state like West Virginia. Doug Jones may end up being even more conservative than Manchin, but I’ll take him over Moore any day and I’ll take Manchin over the West Virginia version of Moore as well.

A true liberal could never win in either of those states, at least not at the moment.

David Kerlick

Why not a primary challenger?

Berdawn Hutchinson

He has a primary challenger, Paula Jean Swearengin. The daughter of a coal miner, no less.

I think the nightmare will continue long after Trump if we don’t win back the Senate. The Senate is approving nominees that will destroy they departments they are heading (Devos, Gringke, Mulvaney) and extremist judges who will progress their biased agendas for many, many years. If we don’t win back the Senate and these appointments continue for the 4 year term, we may not be able to undo the damage in our lifetime.

And I don’t think that Kennedy will make it until 2020, which scares me to death.

another_steve

Department heads are a dime a dozen. When I was in government and a fellow executive would talk about resigning due to the current department head, I’d say, “Be patient. S/he’ll soon be history.”

The Supreme Court is another story however – as you recognize.

That scares the shit out of me too.

Ninja0980

The lower courts will be hit even worse.

another_steve

The Sexual Predator-in-Chief is doing damage there, yes.

In obeyence of the theofascists who are giving him a pass for his payoffs to the porn stars he’s molested.

Michael

When you were in government, were most of the Department heads working hard to undermine the departments they lead? I understand that these appointments are temporary but I think these current heads could do much more damage than anything we’ve seen before.

I’m hoping that the energy we see in the public translates (in 2020 and a new Democratic president) into a desire to help rebuild everything that these twits have attempted to dismantle.

another_steve

Laws can be changed. Federal regulations can be changed. Executive Orders are here only for the day.

I trust in the common good of the people.

“This too shall pass.”

Michael

It comforts me that someone who understands the situation (far better than I do) still trusts that things will work out.

West Virginia doesn’t vote Republican? West Virginia is second only to Wyoming in terms of support for Trump during the last Presidential election. Problem is, Trump promised the coal industry the Moon, and voters in West Virginia took the bait.

Treant

In terms of their Senator in this case, it’s surprising that WV does not vote Republican. I was not as clear as I should have been.

bkmn

Sure, blame the Dems for gridlock when the GOP is nothing more than an obstruction party.

another_steve

Pragmatic Politics 101.

Democrats need him in the Senate.

JCF

If he ONLY votes for Schumer as Majority Leader (President Pro Tem), that’s HUGE.

Tawreos

I am always puzzled by senators and representatives that always seem to talk about how much Washington sucks and yet never seem to do much to change it.

RyanInIllinois

It’s a collective action problem. No one Senator or Representative can change Washington. It’s actually the other side of the coin of the approval paradox: Most people approve of their representative or their senators, but they despise the House and the Senate.

The_Wretched

“his middle-of-the-road ideology”

He’s not middle of the road. And the intransigence is not one sided.

GanymedeRenard

Excuse the salacious comment, but Washington sucked willingly… Lafayette’s private parts.* 😉
_______
*Edit to add: For those of our fellow readers who may not know, George Washington and the Marquis of Lafayette had a documented gay relationship. It is thus assumable that oral sex was involved, hence my comment. 😀

I did not know that, but I admit it takes my fascination with the musical Hamilton into uncharted waters. Washington (Christopher Jackson) begins the song, and Lafayette (Daveed Diggs) is the guy in blue and gold who sings the line “Immigrants we get the job done” with Hamilton (Lin Manuel Miranda).

Interesting observation. What documentation do you base it on? My deceased partner in the 80s returned from a meeting with his counterpart at Mt. Vernon with the info there was contemporary medical observation that Geo. Washington was cryptorchid (undescended testes), unacknowledged because that’s not how we would prefer to think of the “Father of his Country”. Which, in no way, precludes your observation.

I wonder if she’s planning to run for office. Her momma was pretty awesome as Gov of Texas.

Cuberly Deux

She’s only 60…would make for an interesting Gov race that’s for sure.

Lizard

Why are they calling Planned Parenthood an “Abortion Rights Group”?

Cuberly Deux

Witnessing again the ability of the MSM to cave to right-wing marketing and talking points.

Lizard

It’s seriously problematic. Abortions consist of ~3% of PP’s business. The other 97% is affordable women’s healthcare they might not be able to access otherwise.

Joe in PA

Exactly. I really wish it were feasible to separate the Planned Parenthood that deals with abortions and the Planned Parenthood that provides all the other medical care. Call it something else. I know it sounds like caving, but fuck, they are going to lose ALL funding with these assholes in charge. Fuck, they’ll (Rs) will likely just change the goal posts anyway…so never mind. I’m so sick of our R government.

Lizard

That is caving. Reproductive control is an essential part of women’s healthcare, and abortion is one of those services. It’s in much higher demand than people think, and if it’s banned, women are going to die. Period.

Joe in PA

I didn’t say do away with it…just separate. Right now no public funds go to provide abortion services but that doesn’t stop Rs from lumping them together with respect to funding. I’m just suggesting a name change for the part that does the abortions…remove a talking point.

Joe in PA

On second thought, keep PP for the abortion services name…it has been so tainted by the Rs and Fox.

Lizard

I don’t share your confidence that the talking point would be removed. They’d just lie about it.

The_Wretched

Excellent point. PP is first and foremost a series of clinics for the poor but particularly women. “Abortion Rights Group” is right wing framing.

clay

US News and World Report is at the conservative end; pulling that shit isn’t a surprise. Wish I could say otherwise.

Yes! What a putz. Did you also note…no mention of guns. Nope, couldn’t have that.

andrew

I understand that Manchin is a centrist Democrat and represents the very red state of West Virginia, so he is not always going to vote with his Democratic colleagues from blue states. I would like to know why he voted to confirm Alex Azar as Sec of HHS. As president of Lily pharma he oversaw the doubling in price of at least a dozen major drugs that Americans need to maintain life. Alex Azar admitted that he never once approved of lowering the price of any drug. I wonder how the hard working people of West Virginia feel about that. On his watch Lily Pharma sold the very same drugs in Canada at a lower price than they sold them in West Virginia USA. Yep some things do suck in Washington.

Will Parkinson

Washington doesn’t have to suck. But if it does, please ask it to swallow.

ted-

He’s a GOP in fucking disquised. I hate this jackass. Leave office as you’re not supporting your constituents – us! You’re supporting the 1% and GOPers.

David Kerlick

CorporateDINO stooge works for the fossil fuel industry. Daughter tripled the price of epi-pens.

wds

This statement from the person who barely knows what it’s like to vote with his party … ROFL